Collegiate athletics strive for success in the classroom as well as on the field, and the South Florida men’s soccer team exemplifies the virtue with senior Tony D’Oyley leading the way.

The Big East conference chose the midfielder-defender as a 2007-2008 Big East/Aeropostale Institutional Male Scholar-Athlete award honoree.

“(D’Oyley) is a very, very organized and responsible young man,” USF soccer coach George Kiefer said. “He’s taking a very difficult major at USF – biomedical science. To be able to perform well (in school) and then perform also on the field tells you a little bit about him.”

Kiefer said 17 of his 25 players achieved a grade point average of 3.0 or higher.

Grace on a rollThe USF women’s basketball team (12-11, 2-8) is struggling this year, losing nine out of its last 11 games, but its standout guard Shantia Grace continues to perform well.

The Big East Conference named the junior to last week’s honor roll Tuesday for the fifth time this year.

She averaged 31 points and five assists last week, helping the Bulls to a 1-1 record. She scored a career-high 35 points – sixth best in team history – against No. 25 DePaul, leading USF to a 78-73 victory.

She averages 18 points – fifth in the Big East – and 3.7 assists for the season.

Women’s match canceledThe No. 28 USF women’s tennis team played two top-10 teams in a row – No. 6 Georgia (5-1) and No. 4 Georgia Tech (6-1) – and was scheduled to play a third – No. 5 Florida (3-0). Unforeseen obstacles prevented the match, however.

Weather caused officials to cancel a dual matchup between the Bulls and the Gators on Tuesday, making it the second time the two teams halted play. The first cancellation came from a flu bug that affected some Bulls players.

USF coach Agustin Moreno said he scheduled tough opponents early in the season to let his team get some experience playing the best.

“To be the best, you got to play the best,” he said.

Instead of playing the best, the team is getting rest. The last match was against Georgia. More than two weeks passed since the Bulls played the Bulldogs.

The Florida match has yet to be rescheduled.